Propelling mechanism for locomotive-cranes and the like.



W. FERRIS.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR LocoMoTlvE CRANES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I ISI?.

Patented July Q3, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Jjy I W. FERRIS.

PROPELLING NIECHANISNI FOR LOCOMOTIVE CRANES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. l. 19|?.

1 ,273,4'72. Patented July 23, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Z/wenw Bay www UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

WALTER FERRIS, OF SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIG-NOR T0 BUCYRUS COM- PANY, 0F SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J nly 23, 1918.

Application filed March 1, 1917. Serial No. 151,860.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, l/VALTER FERRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of W'isconsin, have invented a Certain new and useful Improvement in Propelling Mechanism for Locomotive-Cranes and the like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to locomotive cranes and particularly to propelling mechanism therefor'. It is understood, of course, that locomotive cranes are, when in operation, expected to propel themselves from place to place but that when they are being brought to the scene of operation they are ordinarily coupled into a train of cars and hauled by locomotive in the usual way.

One object of my invention is to provide a new and improved traction or propelling mechanism whereby the crane engine may propel the vehicle about while it is at work. Another object is to provide a new and improved connection between the engine and the running gear such that when the crane is to be propelled by the locomotive as part of a train, its self-propelling mechanism may be completely disconnected so that there will be no drag on the car and no resistance to the traction of the locomotive. This is also desirable in order that the wear and tear on 'the propelling mechanism which ordinarily operates at a low rate oi speed lwil notb-e cr:- cessive as it will be if the propl :ig mechanism itself were driven by 'the moven'ient of the wheels at the high speed at wl'ich the wrecling crane is :moved from place te place in times oi. emergency. One object, therefore, is to provide a clutch arrangement whereby the slow speed propelling mechanism may be entirely disconnected with a minimum oi? ditliculty at the will of the operator.

It is umh V"ood, oit course, that these locomo frequently travel over temperar,Y um, irregular tracks and another object oi" ny invention is, therefore, to provide a universal joint between the driving mechanism and the car axle such that any local irregulariti-es ol the track will no1' at- :Eect d'vantageously the driving gear.

lilly invention is illustrated more or h diagranimatically in the accolnpanylug drawings wherein--A Figure l is a section tl'irongh a part et the wrecking car showing my invention partially in section, partially in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a section through the central portion of the car at right angles to the section line of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section through a car wheel showing my universal joint when the axle is in a normal plane;

Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the axle inclined.

Like parts are indicated by like eharacters in all the drawings.

A is a car frame. A1 is the usual type of turn-table supporting bed plate or frame mounted in the car frame. A2 is a supporting web frame extending inwardly from the base frame A1 and terminating in a cup A3. ,It is understood that A4, A5, and A are the tracks upon which the turntable travels being supported by rollers not here shown. A" is the ordinary type of turntable adapted to be supported on tracks A4, A5, A0 as indicated adapted to be swung about such tracks by means of a pinion not shown, engaging the gear A. This turntable is provided with a cylindrical lug A engaging the cup A3 for the purpose of centering it on the frame.

l is a drive shaft rotatably mounted in a bearing sleeve lil in the part A, extending down through a bearing sleeve B2 in the bottom o'l the cup A, lt. carries on its lower end a drive pinion B" and on its upper end a drive pinion l both rigidly fastened to it. B" is an engiiie shaft carrying` a clutch B7 splined thereon in opposition to a clutch BB on a driving pinion Bf in mesh with the gear B so that by manipulation of this clutch power may be transmitted from the engine shaft B to rotate the pinion B4.

C, (l1 are pinions in mesh with the pinion B". rlhey are mounted rigidly on the shafts C2, C in bearings C4, C5 on the car frame. At their lower ends each one oi them carries a mitered pinion C", the pinion C being in mesh with a gear C7 on the sleeve C8. The sleeve C is rotatably mounted in a bearing C on a bracket C10 depending downwardly lroi'n the carI traine.

lhe sleeve tl is; hollow and through it 'passes the car aule l) adapted to engage car journals at its ends not here trated. This axle 'is supported on the car wheels D1, DI which travel along the rails D, D2. Ds is a {ia-nge on the sleeve CS. It carries a ring D4 rotatably mounted on pins D5. D6, D7 are driving links pivoted on the pins D8 on one side of the ring D4. These driving links are adapted to be located one on either side of the axle D and are held in parallelism by their pivoted connection on the pins D8 and by their pivot mounting at their other ends on a pin D9. This pin D9 furnishes a pivot connection between these links and a rigid lever D1".

This rigid lever D10 is forked and engages lugs or pins E projecting outwardly from opposed sides of a clutch ring E1 which clutch ring is rotatably mounted on the axle D by means of a sleeve E2 and held in position by the collar E3 and rings E4. E5 is a clutch splined on axle D in opposition to a clutch E6 on the side of the clutch collar E1 so that by manipulation of this clutch the axle and sleeve ,may be discontinuously connected through the clutch, the pivot arms and the pivotally mounted ring. It will be understood, o1' course, that the pivot arms and their associated parts form a universal joint between the sleeve and the axle so that power may be transmitted no matter what the position of the parts.

lVhen there isample time available and no objections to having a man go under the car, as for instance, when the crane is about to make a long journey, means are provided whereby the lever D10 may be disengaged from the lug or pin E on the clutch ring E1L and may be swung back until the lug E7 on.

the lever D10 is in register with the lug E6 on the fiange D3 on the sleeve C8. The pin is then passed through the two lugs and this holds the two members on the universal joint firmly in position on the flange D3 thus completely disconnecting the universal joint and permitting normal operation and movement of the crane car Without any reference to `the universal joint whatever. But for ordinary purposes it is sufcient to open the clutch when the car can travel, the axle rotating with respect to the clutch'and all the driving mechanism except that part of the clutch itself which is splined to the axle will then be atleet. By this arrangement the operator has merely to throw the clutch to be sure-that the parts will be ready for operation.

I have, of course, not illustrated in detail all the parts of the crane or the car upon which it is mounted. I have merely suggested certain parts necessary to illustrate the arrangement and operation of my device. Obviously my invention might be applied to many dii'erent types of locomotive cranes and the way in which it is arranged in such cranes is subject to wide variations without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention. It must be understood, therefore, that my drawings are in a sense diagrammatic.

I claim :M 1. A propelling gear comprising a driving sleeve surrounding but not touching a driven axle, a universal joint connecting said driving sleeve with a clutch member revolubly mounted upon said axle and a jaw clutch whereby said sleeve may be connected to or disconnected from the axle.

2. A propelling gear for driving an axle comprising' a sleeve surrounding but not touching the axle, a clutch member revolubly mounted u pon the axle, a disconnectible universal joint whereby the sleeve drives the clutch member and disconnecting means whereby the clutch member drives the axle.

3. In a revolving crane structure which comprises a car body, a revolving frame and an axle, a propelling gear arrangement comprising a source of power mounted on the revolving frame, a bevel pinion shaft concentric with the pivot axis of the revolving mechanism and carrying a pinion at its lower end, a driving sleeve surrounding the axle but mounted upon the car body and an inclined shaft carrying near its two ends bevel gears meshing respectively with the gears on the vertical pinion shaft and on the driving sleeve. i

4. In a revolving crane structure which comprises a car body, a revolving frame and an axle, a propelling gear arrangement comprising a source of power mounted on the revolving frame, a bevel pinion shaft concentric with the pivot axis of the revolving mechanism and carrying a pinion at lts v lower end, a driving sleeve surrounding the axle but mounted upon the car body, an inclined shaft carrying near its two ends bevel gears meshing respectively with the gears on the vertical pinion shaft and on the driving sleeve, and a universal driving connection between the sleeve and the axle.

5. In a revolving crane structure which comprises a car body,v a revolving frame and an axle, a propelling gear arrangement comprising a source of power mounted on the revolving frame, a bevel pinion shaft concentric with the pivot vaxis of the revolving mechanism and carrying a pinion` at its lower end, a driving sleeve surrounding the axle but mounted upon the car body, an inclined shaft carrying near its two ends bevel gears meshing respectively with the gears on the vertical pinion shaft and on the driving sleeve, and a detachable unliversal joint connecting the sleeve to the ax e.

6. In a revolving crane structure which comprises a car body, a revolving frame and an axle, a propelling gear arrangement comprising a source of power mounted on the revolving frame, a bevel pinion shaftv concentric with the pivot axis of the revolving mechanism and carrying a pinion at its lower end, a driving sleeve surrounding the axle but mounted upon the car body, a clutch collar revolubly mounted upon the axle, a universal joint connecting the sleeve to the clutch collar and a clutch member mounted upon the axle through which the clutch collar drives the axle.

7. A propelling gear comprising a driven axle, a driving sleeve flanged at each end, surrounding but out of contact with it a driving pinion, a gear on one of said flanges in mesh with it, a clutch on the axle, a universal joint between the clutch and the other flange.

8. A propelling gear comprising a driven axle, a driving sleeve flanged at each end, surrounding but out of contact with it a driving pinion, a gear on one of said flanges in mesh with it, a clutch on the axle, a universal joint between the clutch and the other flange the universal joint being detachable and means for holding the parts of the universal joint in position to permit rotation of clutch and sleeve without inter ference.

9. A propelling gear comprising a driven axle, a driving sleeve flanged at each end, surrounding but out of contact with it a driving pinion, a gear on'one of said flanges in mesh with it, a clutch on the axle, a universal joint between the clutch and the other flange the universal oint comprising a member pivoted for rotation on the flange on an axis perpendicular to the axis of the truck arms pivoted on such member extending upwardly one on either side of the axle and a pivot member interposed between the clutch and the other end of said arms.

10. A propelling gear comprising a driven axle, a driving sleeve flanged at each end, surrounding but out of contact with it, a driving pinion, a gear on one of said flanges in mesh with it, a clutch on the axle, a universal joint between the clutch and the other flange the universal joint comprising a member pivoted for rotation on the flange on an axis perpendicular to' the axis of the truck arms pivoted on such member extending upwardly one on either side of the axle and a pivot member interposed between the clutch and the other end of said arms, a part on such pivot member and a part on the flange said parts being perforated and adapted to be in register with the universal joint when iti is engaged and the arms sprung back against the flange whereby a holding pin may pass through them.

11. A propelling gear comprising a driven axle, a driving sleeve surrounding but out of contact therewith a bearing for the driving sleeve and means for rotating it, a clutch member on the axle and means for removably connecting the clutch member and the sleeve and means for holding such removably connecting means in inoperative position without interfering with the operation of the parts.

l2. A propelling gear comprising a driven axle, a driving sleeve surrounding but out of contact therewith a bearing for the driving sleeve and means for rotating it, a clutch member on the axle and means for removably connecting the clutch member and the sleeve and means for holding such removably connecting means in inoperative position without interfering with the operation of the parts said connecting means comprising a member pivoted on the sleeve connecting links pivoted on such pivot member a member pivoted on the clutch in pivoted connection with such connecting links the connecting links being parallel and arranged one on either side of the axle.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses this 28th day of February, 1917.

WALTER FERRIs. y 

